


Elive

by thecrystallinecryptid



Category: Neopets
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, plushie neopet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23084884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecrystallinecryptid/pseuds/thecrystallinecryptid
Summary: Eliv's afterlife hadn't necessarily been dull, but he did try not to think about what's going on outside, since he couldn't leave the mansion anyway. Everything was mostly fine... until that skeith showed up.(Note: Updates are on hold for now due to low motivation.)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

The ghost giggled gleefully atop the chandelier, watching his new “guest” enter. Sure, visitors were not particularly rare, inviting themselves into his mansion multiple times per month, but they were all equally fun to toy with. For example…

With a wave of his hand, the door slammed shut behind the skeith, causing her to… not jump in surprise? Not even a little squeal? Nothing? Well, perhaps she was another one of those paranormal investigators or intrepid adventurers. Perhaps she had been through worse. For Eliv, these visitors were… a bit of a mixed bag. While they did prove harder to scare than most other visitors, once Eliv _did_ scare them, he knew that it was more significant.

Swooping down from his surveying spot, the ghost flew right into the skeith’s face and let out a banshee-like screech. This time, she _did_ let out a surprised yell… and instinctively throw a punch right through him. It made him shudder a bit, before cackling at her actions. Did she really think that punching a ghost would help?

“You pitiful fool…” the ghost rasped, glaring right at the plushie pet. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just gotten yourself into?” The skeith shrugged. This made Eliv’s grin falter for a moment before trying again to look intimidating. “Well, do you at least know the rules of my little game?” The skeith nodded. “Anagrams, right?”  
“Yes, yes…” the ghost nodded. “And do you know what happens if you fail?”  
“Actually,” replied the skeith, “I had a question about that. Is it _immediate_ death or is there a dungeon or something?”  
“What in- _Death_?!” The ghost was taken aback. “No no, I don’t-… You’re only trapped in the mansion for all eternity, I don’t-”  
“With no access to food or water? For eternity?”  
“If the intruders get hungry, they can just tell me! There’s wild petpets all over the woods outside, I could send one to the haunted food shop with some neopoints and-”  
“You talk about this as if you’ve never done it before.”  
“BECAUSE IT’S NEVER HAPPENED! AND STOP INTERRUPTING ME!”  
The skeith paused. “… Wait… Really?”  
“Are you calling me a liar now?! Yes, really!” snapped the specter. “I tend to my puzzles for one measly hour or so and they’re gone. The little vandals usually break a window or something…”  
The skeith’s facial expression after hearing that response displeased the Kacheek, causing him to snap again. “I told you, I’m not ly-” “I KNOW!” interrupted the skeith, catching Eliv by surprise. Sure, skeiths tended to be the more courageous visitors, but most were too afraid to outright yell at him. She sighed before continuing. “It’s just… it’s rumored that a lot of people who come here disappear.” Thade only had to run the situation through his head for seconds before a look of realization crossed his face. “… Oh…”

“What?” questioned the skeith. Shrugging, Thade answered, “It’s simple. I often tend to my puzzles at night, so while I’m distracted, the fools decide to run around in the haunted woods in the middle of the night, which is the same time that all sorts of dangerous creatures awaken and run amok out there.” “… I knew it,” the skeith muttered. Eliv glared at her, assuming that whatever she just said was an insult. “What was that?” The skeith looked at him… and smiled. Not smugly, not nervously, but a genuine smile. “I knew it wasn’t you.” Her complete lack of fear only annoyed Thade before, but now it was beginning to anger him. “What are you talking about?” “The rumors,” the skeith explained. “You were a puzzle guy. You went nuts over one puzzle, sure, but that’s no reason for you to actually harm people as a ghost. That only happens when ghosts either want revenge on someone, or were a violent person in life. The people that come here are complete strangers, so the first one’s out the window. And as I just said, you were a puzzle guy, probably never fought in your life. You’re not a-”

#### “ENOUGH!”

Thade’s shout sent a gale of wind right onto the skeith, knocking her into the door. He flew upward, glaring down at her. “You make me sound like some soft little weakling… Frankly, I’m insulted.” The ghost huffed, floating there for a few seconds before grinning. “You know… after that, I don’t really feel like playing right now… Perhaps I’ll give you awhile to think about what you’ve done… in complete darkness.” With that, the candles lining the walls and decorating the chandelier all went out, leaving the ghost of Thade as the only light source in the room. “Have fun trying to sleep tonight,” he taunted in a sort of sing song tone before disappearing.

By the time that he had phased through the door to his old room, his grin had long since faded away. What an annoyance this intruder was… Not only was she not scared at all, she was acting so-… sympathetic? The thought alone made him growl. For a moment, he considered letting this one go. He thought of just opening the front door and watching her walk away. He would gladly use more wind to send her out himself if he had to... But no. After a fiasco like that, he wanted to make her pay. They would play his game, and if she failed, he would send her to the basement. Most visitors were left to wander around aimlessly in the dark, but he figured that the basement would be harder to escape from. Granted, skeiths have wings, but they’re tiny, leading to slow flight. As long as he kept an eye on whichever part of the floor she fell through, it would work just fine.

  
…

  
Maybe he should go talk to some of those petpets that snuck into the mansion sometimes, to see if they can be trained to retrieve food.

* * *

Some time to cool off had calmed Eliv a bit, though he was still in a bit of a sour mood as he drifted down the stairs. This new guest had already proven to be irritating, and he had little hope that her behaviour would change.

  
He found that the skeith had stayed by the door, sleeping peacefully. Of course she was sleeping sooo soundly in the middle of a haunted mansion, in the haunted woods, after the ghost of _Eliv Thade_ had trapped her in darkness and been perfectly clear with the fact that he was angry with her. Of course. The ghost grimaced, rolling his eyes. He stared for a moment, then grinned. Flames erupted from the wicks of the candles on the wall and chandelier as he shouted, “WAKE UP!” The plushie neopet was startled awake, scrambling onto her feet and bumping into the door in the process. Eliv’s resulting cackle echoed through the large, tile-floored room before both pets locked eyes, with the kacheek wearing a smile and the skeith wearing a frown. The ghost chuckled at her annoyance, floating about halfway between the floor and ceiling. “I’d say you’ve been in time out long enough,” Thade teased. “Now… why don’t we have some fun?”

  
Both doors leading to the hallways, one each to the left and right, suddenly slammed open. The skeith still seemed to be unphased by slamming doors, and she trudged out into the hall to her left. The specter followed close behind, then darted in front of her as she neared the edge of the first square. “STOP,” he bellowed. “No,” she replied, marching straight through him.

Thade stared, his look of shock turning to a face of fury. “Insolence…” he muttered, as the floor began to shake. The kacheek slowly raised a bandaged hand. “I have had ENOUGH OF YOUR INSOLENCE!” He slammed his fist into the wall, and the square below the skeith flew out from under her, dropping her into the basement. He stood there huffing with fury… but never heard her hit the ground. Floating closer to the hole, Thade began to hear the quiet, frequent flapping of wings. Sure enough, the moment he peeked down into the hole, he saw her flying back up. Snarling, he slammed the square back into its place, effectively sealing her in.

  
Thade allowed his ghostly form to land on the tile for a minute. “You know, for a neopet that is LITERALLY modeled to look like a toy, it’s… simply REMARKABLE just how much you are NOT. FUN. TO PLAY WITH!” He stomped the floor at those last three segments, and had to use the most self-restraint that he ever had in order to not throw a tantrum on the floor right then and there. Huffing, the ghost glared at the floor. “… If you won’t play _my_ game _my_ way… then you won’t play AT ALL!”

The specter flew out of the hall and through the ceiling. “Maybe now she’ll show some more respect,” he thought. “She honestly thinks she can push me around? Me?! Maybe stewing in the consequences of her actions will fix her…” Thade thought that certainly she would be scared now. She’s locked in an abandoned mansion’s basement for eternity! So what if some loud noises didn’t scare her? Eternal imprisonment would terrify anyone!

  
…

  
While flying down to the basement, he thought to himself that if she was sitting down there with not a care in the world, he was going to scream.

  
Over time, Thade had learned that ghosts can only be seen if they want to be seen. Invisibly, he floated around the basement until he found the plush… peacefully sitting on the floor, humming to herself, her back turned to him. Eliv was barely able to stifle a frustrated shout. Was she waiting for him to take her out of here? After how much of a brat she had been, she really expected him to just let her back out and let her cheat at his game again? Did she think that he was _that_ desperate for attention?!

  
As the specter floated closer, he noticed that the skeith’s arm was moving, seemingly repeating the same motion. Slower this time, as to not make a gush of wind from flying too fast, Eliv hovered over to her. Soon, he was close enough to see that she was sewing a plushie closed. This plushie, however, was larger than any Eliv had ever seen anyone play with. Why, this kacheek was-

  
…

  
… This…

  
This kackeek doll was life-sized.


	2. Chapter 2

Eliv didn’t know whether to be curious, flattered, or creeped out. At the moment, he was mainly feeling the latter, backing away from the skeith a bit. He wondered to himself, what was she doing with a life-sized kacheek doll? Why would she bring it here, to his mansion? Obviously, it had something to do with him, but what? A copy, maybe? A realistic doll? But would it be to sell or to keep?

There were stories of ghosts possessing dolls. There were also, however, stories of ways to trap ghosts within items. Voodoo dolls looked like the creator’s target of torment… Maybe it was a big voodoo doll? Or maybe if the doll resembled him enough, it would do a better job at trapping his spirit in it?

Thade paused his thoughts for a moment. What was he doing? Well, he knew what he was doing: He was being ridiculous! Eliv was scaring himself with thoughts of a doll that some weirdo skeith brought in. Besides, the doll bore no resemblance to him at all. In fact, it was completely bare. The doll had no fur, and was made of white cloth. It lacked any facial features, and as the doll had no fur, neither did the tail. Really, its tail resembled a rat’s at the moment.

Yes, this doll looked nothing like Thade. It looked more like-… like a base for a doll… to have details added to it… No no, no more of those thoughts. Thade had no proof that the skeith was going to make it look like him. The proof did not come until moments later, when she pulled a large bag of green, fuzzy material out of her bag. In fact, she pulled out multiple bags, each having a slightly different shade of green.

“… Big deal,” Thade thought to himself. “Kacheeks come in green. In fact, it’s one of the most common neopet colors besides red, blue, and yellow. There’s nothing suspicious about a green kacheek.” Soon after that thought, the skeith pulled a roll of dark purple fabric out of her bag. She also took out a roll of white fabric, a bag of buttons of different shapes and sizes, and what looked like a bag of plastic noses for stuffed animals. The skeith hummed in thought for a moment, looked up at the ceiling, and screamed.

Startled, Eliv darted backwards for a short distance, losing focus and revealing himself. As soon as he did so, the skeith noticed him out of the corner of her eye, looking over at him and giving a quick “Oh, there you are,” before looking between him and the different bags. Reasonably confused, Eliv stared at her for awhile before blurting out, “What was that?!” Simply shrugging, the skeith responded, “I thought you were still upstairs. How else was I supposed to get you to come down here?”

Eliv was quiet for a moment before composing himself a bit, trying yet again to seem intimidating. “Why are you making a cloth copy of me?” The skeith’s attention turned back to him. “Oh, sorry, did you want it to be a different color?” Confused yet again, Thade paused before answering with a question: “Why are you asking me?” Again, the skeith shrugged before replying. “Well, it’d only make sense for it to look how you want it to. It’s _your_ vessel, after all.”  


The specter paused for a moment, “… My… vessel…?” “Well, yeah,” replied the skeith. “I figured if you were gonna get a physical form, a plush would be… more functional than a rotting-for-centuries zombody… if it’s anything more than dust and bones by now. Not to mention less stinky.” Sceptical, Eliv glared at her. “And just why exactly would you make a vessel for Eliv Thade?” The skeith was quiet for a moment, then looked at him. “… I guess… another chance?” Thade groaned, rolling his eyes. Again with this sickening sympathy. He was half blocking her out as she explained how a plush has no organs that can fail, far fewer health problems, no brain that can reach its limit and go ins-… “HEY!”

The _living_ plushie neopet apologized, “Sorry, but it’s literally how you died. I figured you’d like being unable to die the same way you did the first time.” The ghost rolled his eyes again. “It’s not the brain that breaks, you mortal moron… It’s the mind itself.” He looked right at the skeith. “And just who are you to call _me_ insane? You, the one who wandered into a haunted mansion, the mansion of Eliv Thade no less, in the haunted woods, in the middle of the night, insulted the spirit of Eliv Thade _to his face_ , got trapped in a basement for all eternity, and showed no fear at all?! WHAT ARE YOU?!” Both stared at each other for a moment before the skeith motioned back to the doll. “Do you want it green or what?” The spirit of Thade sighed before looking at the doll. “… If this is to be my vessel… I want people to know that it’s me.” His usual grin returned. The skeith nodded, dragging the bag that resembled Eliv Thade’s fur the most closest to her. As she began attaching the fur, she asked, “If you like attention so much, why don’t y-” The specter rushed up close to her face. “CAN YOU GO FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT INSULTING ELIV TH-”

“QUIT TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF IN THE THIRD PERSON!” The skeith sighed. “Sorry I yelled, but it sounds so… egotistical. Like yeah, I get it, you’re a genuis and you’re proud of it, but… it gets tiring when you keep shouting it in everyone’s face.” Both were silent again for a moment, before Eliv spoke up. “Well, you didn’t have to word that last question so rudely.” Another sigh came from the skeith. “Right, sorry… I meant, if you like people acknowledging you a lot, why do you stay cooped up in here? Sure, people talk about you out there, but you can’t see or hear it being locked up in the mansion all day, can you?” The kacheek looked over at her. “… People… talk about me?” The plushie skeith nodded. “You’re kind of a legend… Well, no, you’re a BIG legend. Like pets dress up as you for Halloween sometimes. There’s food items named after you, and… three books I think… One of ‘em’s yours, actually.” The ghost began giggling, but not like last time. This time, it was less mischievous, instead more… joyful. The skeith looked over at him, starting to smile. “What’re you giggling about?” “… Nothing.” The ghost had floated down into a sitting position by now, turning away from the skeith, who kept prying. “You did the whole solving-people’s-puzzles thing to get popular, didn’t you?” “AGAIN WITH THE INSULTS!” cried the kacheek, who had flown upward, trying to appear taller… despite just being a small thing floating high above the ground. Stll smiling, the skeith’s gaze turned back to her work. “Alright, alright… maybe you didn’t.” The specter slowly floated and sat back down, giving a quick “Of course I didn’t…” The skeith simply nodded. “Yeah… you just liked the attention _after_ you got popular.” “Oh hush, you.”

Chuckling, the skeith glanced at him. “Ok, but seriously… why don’t you ever go outside?” The ghost was quiet for a moment. “… I can’t.” The skeith’s stare implied that she wanted him to explain, which he did. “Occasionally, upon death, a neopet’s ghost will not only remain in, but also become bound to, the place of said death. The likelihood is greatly boosted if the dead one was in turmoil, or had unfinished business…” Again, he was quiet for a moment before finishing the thought with a snarl. “… like that infernal puzzle…” Eliv was not looking at her at the moment, but the skeith had nodded, seeming to take note of that last line.

The hours passed, and Eliv would come and leave the basement to check on his guest’s progress. Eventually, she had used almost all of the fluffy material in the bag, completely covering the life-sized doll. The only uncovered patches were the belly and tailtip, where the lighter-colored fur would go, and the patch on his face, which the duo had agreed that they would cover with white fabric later. The skeith had even given the doll a right eye and nose that matched Eliv’s. The doll’s left eye, however, was a bit of a debate topic between them. Being a plushie neopet herself, the skeith explained that plushies could see out of buttons and plastic intended to be eyes, and they could blink with fabric eyelids. However, she had not brought a red button big enough to match Eliv’s right eye. She also did not have second, lighter shade of purple cloth to match the kind on Eliv’s coat near his neck, or leather for the buckles on it. The two now sat across from each other on the basement floor.

Eliv looked up at the skeith, and was quiet for a moment. “… You know… I had considered releasing you earlier.” Seeming surprised, the skeith inquired, “Really?” Thade nodded. “Yes, it’s true… Because I found you to be quite irritating.” The skeith rolled her eyes as the spector chuckled. Smiling, he looked back up at her. “Ok, but to be serious… I suppose… I can accept this new vessel as payment for your release… But only if you return to finish what you’ve started.” The skeith smiled, but feigned disappointment. “Aww, we don’t get to play the game?” Beginning to float, the grinning ghost replied, “And just why would I play with you, you little cheater?” The skeith stood, packing the bags of crafting materials back into her bag. “Oh, so I’m the bad guy for being in a grumpy mood after being awakened by almost getting scorched?” Waving his hand to move one of the floor squares down, Eliv replied, “You weren’t _that_ close to the candles, you drama queen…” Stepping onto the square and carefully tucking the doll into the backpack, she retorted, “ _I’m_ the drama queen, Mr. Screamsalot?” 

Their bickering continued all the way to the front door. As the skeith started to push the door open, Eliv held up a bandaged paw, making it stop in place. “Now, remember the terms of the deal…” The skeith turned to him, raising an eyebrow as he continued. “If you don’t return within a month’s time, the next time I catch you in here-” “Yeah yeah, I know, spooky old puzzle man’s gonna force me to live in his mansion for forever,” replied the skeith. Eliv released the door, letting her fully open it. “I’ll be back,” she told him, stepping out of the mansion. As she closed the door, she looked at him one more time. “I promise.” Before he could protest her sympathetic shenanigans again, she was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry I'm late!)

Despite the terms of the agreement requiring her to be back in less than a month, it was only three days before the plushie skeith returned. Standing on the porch, she knocked on the double door leading inside, and waited. It took a few seconds, but the doors slowly creaked open. Just like her last visit, as soon as she entered, the doors slammed behind her, and just like her last visit, she did not even flinch, even smiling this time. “Y’know, you’re gonna break that one day if you keep it up,” she called up into the seemingly empty room. There was a sigh before the kackeek’s ghost appeared nearby, his hand on his chin. “You’re no fun,” he lied, feigning a grouchy expression.  


“Speaking of fun,” the skeith began, “are we gonna play the game first, or…?” Eliv paused for a moment, then grinned. “For tradition’s sake, I suppose we should… But like last time, I will not tolerate any cheating!” “I know, I know,” the skeith replied, making her way to the door on her left. As they played, Thade found that his guest was surprisingly good at anagrams. By the time she had made her way to the library, however, she only had one false guess left. The skeith stood still, staring at the door leading to the next hallway. Grinning, the ghost floated next to her. “Nervous, are we?” “Nah,” the skeith replied, shrugging. “It’s just… d’you mind if I have a brain break?” Dropping his grin, Thade asked, “How do you mean?” “I dunno, just… sit here and take a break,” the plushie neopet replied. “You’re a puzzle guy, you know this stuff can tire the brain after doing it for so long.” Thade pondered the question for a minute, then shrugged. “I suppose I can allow it.”  


His guest thanked him, promptly sitting on the floor and taking some crafting materials out of her bag. The specter stared for a moment before inquiring, “… You know there are chairs in here, right?” The skeith nodded, now removing the vessel from her backpack, which was now wearing a coat just like Thade’s, sans the torn parts and patches. The ghost seemed pleased, grinning at the doll. Noticing his expression, the skeith smiled. “You’re pretty excited about this, aren’t you?” “Oh, give me some credit,” the ghost groaned. “I have been, as you would put it, cooped up in this mansion for-… decades? Has it been a century yet? Anyway, pardon me if I’d like to know what has changed out there in my abSTOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!” Despite the command, the skeith kept a look of pity in her eyes as her gaze turned back to her work.  


Glaring at the skeith, Thade huffed, “You should know after the first three times you’ve done this that I HATE when you get all… soft like that! Stop acting like I’m some pitiful creature! I. AM ELIV. THADE!” He only got a nod and a quiet “Sorry…” in response, the skeith’s expression unchanging. This did not please Thade, causing him to bark, “What are you even pouting about?” There was silence for a few seconds before she replied, “Nothin’.” Thade huffed and nodded, retorting, “Exactly. You’re just blowing things out of preportion again. Honestly, you’re such an overly-emotional-”  


“YOU’RE THE TRAPPED GHOST OF A GUY WHO PUT SO MUCH OF HIS LIFE INTO PUZZLES THAT YOUR LIFE WAS RUINED BY WORDS ON PAPER,” the skeith finally bellowed, looking Eliv directly in the eyes. “NOBODY EVEN REMEMBERS WHO YOU WERE IN LIFE, AND ALL THEY EVER TALK ABOUT IS HOW YOU DIED! THEY THINK YOUR NAME BEING UNSCRAMBLED INTO WORDS LIKE “VILE” AND “HATED” FIT YOU, WHEN THEY’VE NEVER EVEN MET YOU! AND MOST DON’T EVEN WANT TO, ALL BECAUSE OF SOME STUFF IT TURNS OUT YOU DIDN’T EVEN DO!” She stopped yelling, only seeming slightly calmer. “So yeah, excuse me if I feel sorry for someone like that.”  


As the plush’s gaze turned back to her work, she paused before unceremoniously stuffing the still-unfinished vessel back into her bag. The ghost stayed quiet for a moment before finally asking, “… What are you doing?” Packing the rest of her crafting materials up, the skeith replied, “It’s my break, isn’t it? I don’t have to work if I don’t want to.” She then flopped over onto her side, her back facing Thade. “I’m gonna take a nap.” There was a pause before she heard Eliv reply, “You need some time to cool off anyway.” Seconds later, she felt the ghost’s presence leave the room.

———————————————————————————————————

Eliv still wasn’t back by the time his guest awoke. She considered falling asleep again, but decided against it, since Thade was probably still in a low enough mood to awake her with something similar to his little candle trick. She sat up, and waited… and waited… and waited. While she did not have a watch with her, she felt that it had been at least twenty minutes. Granted, she had no way of knowing how long she had slept, but Thade had definitely been away for quite a while. The skeith put her backpack on and headed out of the library, despite knowing that disrupting their game might worsen Thade’s mood. She treaded carefully through the halls, using her wings to hover over any cracked floor squares, just in case. After making her way up the stairs, she searched the halls until she came across the only door that was completely closed. There was a moment of hesitation before she shrugged and knocked on door. “… Hey,” she began, “are you in there?”  


Eliv’s muffled response was a quick, “nI a etnimu…” The skeith paused, then shrugged, walking in anyway and speaking again. “Look, I’m sorry I snapped earli-… are you kidding me?” The ghost was hunched over a writing desk, a book open to his right and a scroll trailing off of the table to his left. Apparently ignoring her, he mumbled an “mhm”, busy scribbling on something in front of him with a feather pen. Huffing, the skeith began walking towards him. “Look, I know you’ve been working at that thing for a long time now, but… you know it’s given you more trouble than it could possibly be worth.” She heard an annoyed grunt from the kacheek, followed by him calling the claim “osnensen”, still not looking up from his scribblings.  


She was hovering over his shoulder now, with Thade apparently being too immersed in his work to notice. The plushie neopet’s gaze wandered from the ghost’s writing to the puzzle itself, upon which it froze, the arrangement of symbols on the paper making her squint in confusion. Without looking at the ghost, the skeith asked, “What in Moltara’s magma pits does that even mean?” This seemed to snap Eliv out of his trance for a moment, now fully aware that someone else was staring at his puzzle… which he did not like. The ghost slowly turned his head to stare at the skeith, snarling, “etG. yaAw from that.” “Dude, chill,” the skeith replied, reaching for the scroll. “It’s just a buncha scribbles on pa-”

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!”

Thade had launched up from his chair, sending off a wave of paranormal energy, which was strong enough to make the skeith stumble backwards for a few steps before ultimately falling flat on her back. The spirit hovered there for a minute, huffing, then turned to look at his desk, his eyes widening. He let out a quick shriek before yanking the scroll away from the now-spilled vial of ink for the quill he had been using. The skeith sat up in time to see the kacheek skimming a large section of the scroll to make sure nothing had been damaged. The plush chuckled, smirking at him. “I guess I’m special now, huh?” Thade shot an annoyed look at the skeith briefly, questioning, “What are you babbling about now?” The other chuckled again, brushing herself off as she replied, “Well, I’m the only one who knows what the oh-so-scary Eliv Thade is afraid of.” “I AM NOT,” Eliv bellowed, throwing the scroll onto the floor… and gasping after realizing what he did, skimming the scroll again.  


Catching the skeith’s next expression out of the corner of his eye, he turned and barked at her, “DON’T YOU ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME! As you said yourself, I’ve spent so much time in this… You speak as if spending all this time on it has damaged me. If you really believe that, then imagine what never being able to solve this would do. And since you’re such a sympathetic type, I’d say neither of us would want that.” Shrugging, the skeith started, “True, true…” As she began moving towards the door, she added, “Wouldn’t that also set you free, though?” Thade glared at her, then grinned. “… Free? … Me? You honestly think I’m not free?!” He cackled, the door slamming shut in front of the other. The specter hovered above her height, staring down at her. “I no longer have the limits of a mortal body. I control everything in this mansion. According to your tales, I am revered across Neopia!” He began floating back down, chuckling to himself. “And you say that I’m not free…”  


“Eh,” the skeith shrugged. “I wouldn’t say… ‘revered’.” The specter’s smile disappeared as he shot another glare at the skeith. “What was that?” “Well,” the skeith continued, “the word ‘revered’ implies respect. People are scared of you, sure, but… nobody respects a villain.” The ghost stared for only a second before barking a quick, fake laugh. “Then explain those items you told me about earlier! The ones that are made in my image?” Shrugging again, the skeith said, “That’s just ‘cuz you’re a popular ghost story. Honestly, a lot of people don’t even believe you’re real. Also, there were items made after Sloth, right? You think anybody respects him?” Before the ghost could reply, the skeith added, “Also, if you don’t want the restraints of a mortal body, why are you so excited about the vessel? And isn’t your spirit tied to this mansion specifically because of that puzzle?” 

The ghost was quiet for a moment, then explained, “Those two questions are linked. I want the vessel because it will allow me to leave the mansion. My spirit is bound here, yes… But a body can only be bound physically, not spiritually. Additionally, do you recall when you tried to punch me during your first visit here? Interacting directly with physical objects is… more difficult in this form. My handwriting isn’t nearly as steady as I would like, as you probably saw a minute ago.” The skeith nodded, opening the door that had been released from the effect of Thade’s outburst for a while now. Before she stepped out, she looked back at him. “… I think it would only be fair to tell you… If you don’t let go of that puzzle… if you leave the mansion in your new body, and you ever get out of it when you’re outside the mansion? You’ll get sucked right back here.” She turned her gaze to the hallway ahead. “… You won’t be as free as you think.” His grin returning, it was now Eliv’s turn to shrug. “Eh, baby steps. It would be foolish to ask for everything at once… Power-hungry, even. Besides, I don’t even have any plans.” He followed the skeith, floating through the wall. “I’d just like a look around, that’s all.” A small smile forming on her face, the skeith glanced at him. “… Well… we can do that.”


End file.
